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Hitachi fulfils Middle Eastern promise

Lime & Stone Production Company is said to have significantly improved production levels with its first excavator – a Hitachi EX1200-6 – at its flagship Modim Quarry, near Tel Aviv, Israel. The large excavator was delivered in January 2012 to what is the biggest quarry in the Middle East, where the annual capacity is estimated at six million tonnes. Describing themselves as the largest producer of aggregates in Israel, Lime & Stone is part of Readymix Industries (Israel) Ltd, said to be the nation’s leading
September 19, 2012 Read time: 3 mins
Lime & Stone Production Company is said to have significantly improved production levels with its first excavator – a 233 Hitachi EX1200-6 – at its flagship Modim Quarry, near Tel Aviv, Israel.

The large excavator was delivered in January 2012 to what is the biggest quarry in the Middle East, where the annual capacity is estimated at six million tonnes.

Describing themselves as the largest producer of aggregates in Israel, Lime & Stone is part of Readymix Industries (Israel) Ltd, said to be the nation’s leading producer and supplier of raw materials for the construction industry. It was established in 1935 and operates across 11 sites, which produce high-quality aggregates, concrete blocks, lime and asphalt.

The EX1200-6 – the first of its kind in Israel – was supplied by CMD, the country’s authorised Hitachi dealer, which has been working with the quarry for more than 20 years. CMD’s service manager, Nisso Eini, has worked alongside Lime & Stone for seven years and played an integral role with the installation and operation of the machine.

“CMD has been engaged in everything from the initial consultation to assembling the EX1200-6,” said Eini. “Most importantly, I have also helped to train the operators, as Lime  & Stone had never previously worked with excavators.

“We presented some routine maintenance and servicing courses after the machine had been delivered. Since then, my regular visits to the site have been spent answering routine questions from the customer and managing the after-sales programme.”

The EX1200-6 takes between eight and ten passes to load the fleet of 100tonne dump trucks with its 6.7m³ bucket. This equates to eight truckloads per hour, depending on the density of the materials and the efficiency of the operator. Lime & Stone’s quarry manager, Shmulik Nachumi, said: “The Hitachi EX1200-6 is responsible for the extraction of the raw materials required for the production of limestone products. It is very safe and stable for excavating these materials from the quarry face or floor.

“An important factor in the choice of machine was CMD’s reputation of being reliable and supplying a good level of after-sales service and support. Overall, this has been a successful project in terms of changing the method in which we load the materials.”

Nachumi added that the Modim Quarry site had been adjusted to suit the excavator which had, in his opinion, already demonstrated its excellence in accessibility and loading time.

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